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In the Wake of Man
- GenresScience Fiction
229 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1975
27 people want to read
About the author
Roger Elwood
183 books28 followersRoger Elwood was an American science fiction writer and editor, perhaps best known for having edited a large number of anthologies and collections for a variety of publishers in the early 1970s. Elwood was also the founding editor of Laser Books and, in more recent years, worked in the evangelical Christian market.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 5, 2015
In the Wake of Man is two short novels and a short story written specifically for this publication in consideration of the theme explicit in the title.
The longer pieces are by two of the best science/speculative fiction writers ever, the lesser piece by a writer I had not heard of before, and who didn't distinguish himself here.
First up, that lunatic Lafferty, whose From the Thunder Colts Mouth is a prime slice of sublime, idiosyncratic inanity worthy of the name.
Attempts to summarise his work are fairly hopeless, but for what it's worth: a city and its citizens start dying and disappearing or turning into papier-mache when a group of conventioners called The Royal Pop Historians come to town, reveling in their noetic superiority and killing off all the animals and humans because they aren't "splendid" enough.
See what I mean? It's bonkers and brilliant.
Next up is the ever-wily Wolfe. Tracking Song is one of his best stories (I had read it before as it's in one of his later collections).
An ambiguous lifeform wakes up in a strange, wintry land with a few well picked survival tools and a recording device. He can communicate with the various animal-like creature he encounters, but suspects that he is really a fallen member of the superior species who circle the globe on the Great Sleigh, so he endeavors to make his way back to it.
As usual with Wolfe there is so much more going on than a first glance could possibly reveal, much remains uncertain at the end (in fact the end just introduces a new ambiguity) and it's beautifully well written, strange, yet strangely moving.
Lastly, Moudy's The Search For Man tells the story of a post-human earth, where the humans have all left or died after a cataclysmic disaster, while their robot servants remain, constantly recreating themselves with the enhancement of twelve sets of human genes and honouring the memory of their departed masters by elevating them to the status of gods.
Alas, Moudy's tale read like an Asimov-lite pulp story from the 1950's and appeared anaemic next to the towering talents that preceded it, but at least it's the shortest of the three.
Five stars for both Lafferty and Wolfe, but just two for Moudy, which averages out to four overall.
p.s. I had to add this book to the Goodreads library, it didn't exist before. That's a first for me!
The longer pieces are by two of the best science/speculative fiction writers ever, the lesser piece by a writer I had not heard of before, and who didn't distinguish himself here.
First up, that lunatic Lafferty, whose From the Thunder Colts Mouth is a prime slice of sublime, idiosyncratic inanity worthy of the name.
Attempts to summarise his work are fairly hopeless, but for what it's worth: a city and its citizens start dying and disappearing or turning into papier-mache when a group of conventioners called The Royal Pop Historians come to town, reveling in their noetic superiority and killing off all the animals and humans because they aren't "splendid" enough.
See what I mean? It's bonkers and brilliant.
Next up is the ever-wily Wolfe. Tracking Song is one of his best stories (I had read it before as it's in one of his later collections).
An ambiguous lifeform wakes up in a strange, wintry land with a few well picked survival tools and a recording device. He can communicate with the various animal-like creature he encounters, but suspects that he is really a fallen member of the superior species who circle the globe on the Great Sleigh, so he endeavors to make his way back to it.
As usual with Wolfe there is so much more going on than a first glance could possibly reveal, much remains uncertain at the end (in fact the end just introduces a new ambiguity) and it's beautifully well written, strange, yet strangely moving.
Lastly, Moudy's The Search For Man tells the story of a post-human earth, where the humans have all left or died after a cataclysmic disaster, while their robot servants remain, constantly recreating themselves with the enhancement of twelve sets of human genes and honouring the memory of their departed masters by elevating them to the status of gods.
Alas, Moudy's tale read like an Asimov-lite pulp story from the 1950's and appeared anaemic next to the towering talents that preceded it, but at least it's the shortest of the three.
Five stars for both Lafferty and Wolfe, but just two for Moudy, which averages out to four overall.
p.s. I had to add this book to the Goodreads library, it didn't exist before. That's a first for me!
September 4, 2023
My second short fiction anthology read of the month is a trio of stories asking "who or what comes after man?" It contains one from the insane genius RA Lafferty, a masterpiece from Gene Wolfe and a third from a little known author by the name of Walter Moudy.
1. From the Thunder Colt's Mouth by RA Lafferty: 4/5
I have no problem calling Lafferty the least approachable writer in all of science fiction, and I don't mean that as an insult. Much of Lafferty's ouvre contains stories that are borderline incomprehensible, yet the clarity and etymological creativity of his writing is top-tier and relentlessly entertaining to read. This one very much fits the bill.
2. Tracking Song by Gene Wolfe: 5/5
One of my all time favorites from Wolfe, which I had first read in The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories. Brilliant and evocative.
3. In Search of Man by Walter Moudy: 3/5
Definitely the weakest of the lot, feels like it'd be more at home with sci-fi from the 1950s. Not bad, it's competently told, but ultimately predictable and not terribly evocative or creative in its imagery, especially in comparison to the other two.
1. From the Thunder Colt's Mouth by RA Lafferty: 4/5
I have no problem calling Lafferty the least approachable writer in all of science fiction, and I don't mean that as an insult. Much of Lafferty's ouvre contains stories that are borderline incomprehensible, yet the clarity and etymological creativity of his writing is top-tier and relentlessly entertaining to read. This one very much fits the bill.
2. Tracking Song by Gene Wolfe: 5/5
One of my all time favorites from Wolfe, which I had first read in The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories. Brilliant and evocative.
3. In Search of Man by Walter Moudy: 3/5
Definitely the weakest of the lot, feels like it'd be more at home with sci-fi from the 1950s. Not bad, it's competently told, but ultimately predictable and not terribly evocative or creative in its imagery, especially in comparison to the other two.
December 13, 2017
I couldn't finish this.
October 5, 2021
My review of the Walter Moudy story: It’s not great and maybe not even good and it ends like a car crash.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews